I'm using Brave as my default, but am looking at Opera and Edge, and I'm wondering which extensions you guys use and if they slow you down.

I might also take a look at Vivaldi with its stacked tabs.

Not to get super heavy or anything, but let me ask you: have you ever wished for just one more conversation with a loved one who's passed on?

I think it's fairly safe to say that most people would answer yes to this question in some capacity - I know I sure would. I have said good-bye to many wonderful people in my life, and although when times get tough I can still hear them in my head and in my heart enough to imagine a pep talk from them, it's no substitute for having them here, in the flesh, sitting across the table from me.

I say all of this in order to set up a piece of news that I stumbled upon today that both piqued my curiosity and perplexed me greatly at the same time: Microsoft has been granted a patent that would allow them to make a chatbot using the personal information of deceased people.

Say what, now?

The patent, which you can read here, describes a bot that is based on the "images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages," and other personal information. According to Microsoft, the person the chat bot represents may "correspond to a past or present entity (or a version thereof), such as a friend, a relative, an acquaintance, a celebrity, a fictional character, a historical figure, a random entity, etc." I don't know about you, but this seems like it could skirt into some really awkward and potentially uncomfortable or morally sketchy areas. 

The patent also suggests that the person the bot is emulating may "correspond to oneself," which means that you could potentially train a digital replacement in the event of your death. The notion of a 2D or 3D model of a specific person being generated via images and video data is also included in the patent.

The idea of being able to speak to a simulation of a person isn't new - the idea has been woven into the fabric of Science Fiction for years. Let's be frank: no technologically created entity is ever going to replace a person. Sure, maybe it might elicit some fond memories, but - it's still fake. It's almost like a simulation, but one that would be all too eerie for me, personally.

The technology also isn't really just science fiction anymore, either - there are some real world examples of this idea, from Kim Kardashian, who was gifted a 3-minute hologram of her late father, to the founder of the tech company Luca, who used 8,000 lines of text messages to create a chatbot that mimicked her late friend's way of speaking.

I can respect the technology and acknowledge how far science in the world of tech has come, but for me there's a line that I draw at a digital recreation of a loved one who is meant to converse with me. I could even see how something like this might be able to help certain people process their grief by finding the reminders of conversations past and the promise of new ones, however constructed.

I wonder what Microsoft, ultimately, aims to do with this idea. What about you? Does the idea of this technology excite or repulse you? Share your thoughts with me!

I've obtained the top download lists from 2020 and have been going through them. I'm going to be making several posts about them, but today I wanted to start with CursorFX. It was an exciting year for CursorFX as we released v4 back in April. 

So, let's take a look at the most downloaded CursorFX themes on WinCustomize for 2020!

Hal 2030 by theAVMAN was the top CursorFX download in 2020!

Piranha FX by neone6  and Oberon 7 by Vampthothika came in as the 2nd and 3rd most downloaded with over 7000 downloads each.

One of Object Desktop’s greatest additions last year, Curtains lets you add new “modes” to Windows 10. With Curtains, you can customize the Start button, title bar buttons, and title bar, plus adjust hundreds of other small elements in Windows. You can be as specific and detailed as you want to be, or you can make broader, more subtle changes, whichever suits your preference best!

One of the things you can do with Curtains is create and share your own styles. I’m definitely not a style expert - I don’t really have much of an eye for design - but I wanted to walk through some of the options and possibilities that exist for people who are much more talented than myself. 

For those of you who, like me, don’t see themselves as much of a design guru, the options that exist for editing existing styles are pretty great too, so don’t fret! On that note, let’s take a dive into Curtains customization and what we can do with it.

If you like being very specific with customization options, then you’ll love just how much tweaking is available to you in Curtains. I started exploring by opening up Curtains and selecting “Create New.” I then named my style, added a brief description and my username, and got started with it.

I discovered that I could pick an image to start with if I wanted to, and that Curtains would create frames from a background that I selected, adjusting the color scheme to pull colors from that image. 

I could go even further beyond that and edit the image layer, too. I can add effects, being as wild or a subtle as I like (below is an example of the balloon effect). The effects also have sounds, so I can set the volume on that if I’m inclined not to mute it.

One of my favorite details in the editor - which you can do whether you’re adjusting an existing style or creating one from scratch - are Shadows. You can change the color of the shadow on your window, adjust the transparency and blur level, and even adjust how much shadow the window casts.

What I tend to prefer to do is pick a style that already exists and edit it to suit my tastes. A feature I almost always make sure to have turned on no matter what style I use is the background blur. To change this, I go into “advanced properties” on the style (I always make a copy, I never edit the original) and scroll down toward the bottom until I find “Explorer background blur mode.” I personally like the Acrylic Blur.

Below, you can see an example of an edited version of Dark Waters. I adjusted the colors (normally, I would definitely not be using pink, but I wanted to go for a dramatic effect here just so you can see), changed the shadows so that they would tint lavender, and applied it to my desktop.

Honestly, I genuinely like the base styles that come already included with Curtains. I’m usually perfectly content with just altering the colors to match the background I’ve chosen for my desktop and making sure I have the blur effect turned on. 

Curtains, combined with DeskScapes, Fences, and Groupy have made my home PC very unique to me. I generally love blue and aqua tones, so it’s exciting for me to be able to apply that in lots of different places on my computer where I generally would be unable to otherwise. 

Are you a fan of editing and creating styles in Curtains? If so, please share your tips with me!

CES was alive and active this year, even if the format was just a little bit different. Completely virtual for 2021, the Consumer Electronics Show lived up to its name by showcasing many of the top names in tech - not to mention more than a few startups! - and playing host to plenty of exciting product launch announcements.

There's obviously so much for me to cover here so that I'll barely scratch the surface, but let's take a look at some of the things I thought were pretty cool that popped up during the conference last week!

AMD Keynote

AMD made some pretty big announcements last year and made big waves in the market with the Ryzen 5000 desktop processors and Big Navi graphics cards. As was to be expected, this year was no exception as Dr. Lisa Su, President and CEO of AMD, detailed what exciting things AMD has been working on and what's coming in 2021.

Stealing the show was the much-anticipated AMD Ryzen 5000 series of mobile processors. Based on the same Zen 3 architecture as the desktop CPUs, AMD promises incredible performance, longer battery life, and "the only 8-core x86 CPU for ultrathin laptops."

Dr. Su's keynote is linked above if you'd like to hear all of the details and start budgeting for your next PC.  

LG Rollable Smartphone

Image credit: LG

Rumors of a rollable smartphone have been circulating for awhile, but LG confirmed at CES that the phone is officially on its way. During their segment, LG showed a short teaser trailer which showcases a phone which can extend its edges to create a small tablet. Called the LG Rollable, the company confirmed that the phone will release sometime in 2021. 

The tech is pretty cool, but I typically don't jump on the newest latest and greatest phones. Although no price has been confirmed, some leaks suggest that the price point may be around $2,300, and that's a little too steep for me! Anyone thinking about getting this gadget at launch? I want to hear about it if you do!

AARP Innovation Lab

AARP is a United States–based interest group focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty, and this year at CES they sponsored presentations from several start-up companies who are focused on making life easier for the aging population. There is so much that tech can do for seniors and their caregivers, and it was AARP's goal to shed some limelight on these types of innovations.

One of the main goals was to focus on tech that helps elderly people "age in place" - in other words, the hope is to keep them in their homes and communities rather than in a nursing home. An app called Mighty Health pairs seniors with health coaches and certified trainers, for example, while another startup, Zibrio, features a scale that assesses users' balance to predict whether or not they are fall risks.

All of my grandparents are, sadly, gone, but a lot of these startups and their ideas really interest and intrigue me because I can see things that I sure wish I'd had access to while they were still alive. I found the smart lamp, Nobi, to be an especially enlightening (sorry not sorry!) idea: it automatically turns on when users stand up and sends alerts to family members in case they fall. You can learn more about it in the YouTube video I've embedded above.

There were plenty of other fantastic ideas showcased during the Innovation Lab, so if you have an aging senior in your life be sure to check out some of the tech that's being developed!

Airpeak Drone

Sony offered the first glimpse of its new flying machine at CES this year, showcasing the drone flying above a snowy landscape while keeping pace with a prototype Sony Vision S car during a road test. Unfortunately for drone hobbyists, the Airpeak is definitely meant for professional cinematographers, but Sony has left the door open for possible future iterations on the brand, which may include consumer drones, too.

The Airpeak is set to launch in the spring of this year. Any drone hobbyists out there? I want to hear about what you fly!

Everything Else

I know, this is kind of a broad sweeping "and all this other stuff," but really - there's so much to cover! Plenty of sites out there have some great summaries of the various aspects of CES and some of the major announcements that occurred over the week. There were new TVs and home theater innovations, new gaming laptops, new soundbars, and so, so much more.

Want to see more of what was announced at CES? Check out their website! Did you watch the conference at all this year? Tell me what you're excited about!

Valentine's Day is approaching in a few weeks, and I thought it would be fun to feature some of the Valentine's Day inspired skins and themes here on WinCustomize.

Do you add Valentine's skins to your desktop?

Happy Valentines Day by vlad (Wallpaper)

Valentines Day by danilloOc (Start buttons)

Valentine Hearts by AzDude (Dream)

My Dirty Valentine by Vampothika (CursorFX)

Are you a Microsoft Surface user? Whether you have an older Surface Pro or are up-to-date with the most recent model, take a moment to read on about a snazzy little app called TouchTasks.

What is TouchTasks?

TouchTasks is a touchscreen app for Windows that creates “zones” on your device so that you can easily access apps and tasks.The zones are conveniently located on the edge of the screen and will work in both portrait and landscape modes. You can customize each zone by assigning certain tasks or applications to it, effectively organizing your touchscreen experience.

I have personally never used a Surface before, so I got in touch with our IT team at Stardock and borrowed a Surface Pro 2 that we had available. After I got it home and plugged it in, I booted it up and started to explore. The team was kind enough to load TouchTasks for me, so I got right to playing around with the zones and testing out what sorts of things I could assign to each.

The benefit of the zones is immediately apparent to me, especially as a new Surface user who is just starting to become acclimated to the device. While I don’t have many applications loaded onto it right now, I imagine that if I were to use the Surface much more consistently that it would all fill up very quickly. 

Assigning Zones

I especially like that I can assign my task switcher panel to a zone. Considering how clumsy I am with a touchscreen device, anything that makes it easier to get around is a definite bonus! Rather than having to go rooting around to find them, I can also assign multiple apps to a given zone so that they show up on the menu when I tap the zone.

Using zones to toggle the keyboard on and off is especially great when I’m just using the Surface in its tablet mode. I didn’t really explore assigning custom hotkeys to zones very much, but that option is there if you’re the type of user who would benefit from that!

My personal favorite thing to assign to a zone, however, is recent documents. I love being able to find something I was working on or looking at quickly and easily. Plus, I do also really like that I can make a zone just return me to the desktop.

A Must for Surface Users

I will definitely be playing with the Surface for a while to see if it fits into my workflow. If I like it enough, I may consider a newer model - and I can tell you for sure that if I upgrade, TouchTasks is definitely coming with me.

Have you tried TouchTasks? Share your stories with me!

Every year the Pantone Color Institute announces color(s) that will express the "mood" of the year. They have picked two interesting choices which are Ultimate Gray and Illuminating.

From their blog:

"PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, two independent colors that highlight how different elements come together to support one another, best express the mood for Pantone Color of the Year 2021. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, the union of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is one of strength and positivity. It is a story of color that encapsulates deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the promise of something sunny and friendly.

A message of happiness supported by fortitude, the combination of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is aspirational and gives us hope. We need to feel that everything is going to get brighter – this is essential to the human spirit."

I think this combination of colors would actually look good in some skins, especially a Curtains or CursorFX theme. What do you think about these colors for use in themes?

Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that 2021 is significantly kinder to us than 2020 was. To get back into the swing of things (I’ve just enjoyed a 2-week vacation and I need to find my groove again), let’s take another look at DeskScapes 11!

I gave a little preview of the upcoming version of Deskscapes just before our holiday break, but today I want to focus on something a little more specific within the app: designing your own backgrounds (Dreams). 

There are plenty of ways to go about this. You can start with a totally blank slate or you can choose an existing background to modify. I pulled up a blank page and chose a static image I happened to have on my desktop - in this case, a screenshot from Final Fantasy XIV - and decided to start exploring some of the options.

First I just started playing with some of the provided effects. I chose some ripples (rings on water) and clicked around to explore some of the options. With all of the effects, you can change shape, size, speed, and so on to make it work for your image in any way that you want. I also tested the playlist feature by uploading a song.

After playing around in effects, I moved into animations - and there were a ton of choices. I played with them for a bit, experimenting with resizing/relocating where the effects pop up on my background. With this particular effect, I can adjust the angle that the stars are falling at, as well as the speed, size, and density, which I thought was pretty cool.

I got caught up in exploring all of the different effects for a while, I won’t lie. There are a lot of cool things that I can add to my background to make it unique and fun. In the image below, I added some snowflakes and pumped their size up a lot so that I could see them really well. I also eventually adjusted it so that they fell really slowly.

You can also adjust the color on most effects! I played around with the fireworks effect and tried colors from green all the way to purple, adjusting the main color, glow, and translucency to see all different sorts of variants.

If you don’t have a pre-existing image that you want to add effects to and make into a DeskScapes Dream, you can select one that’s already in the app. I played around with this dragon background a bit; it was actually really helpful to see all the layers of what the artist had already added to it so I could get better ideas of how to formulate my own the next time I try from scratch.

As you can see, DeskScapes 11 makes creating your own animated background really easy and straightforward! I am not particularly artistic, so having an easy to navigate program with pre-created effects and animations really helps me out and makes me want to play with customization more than I might normally otherwise.

Are you excited about the new DeskScapes? What features are you hoping to see in DeskScapes 11? Share with me!

Happy 2021, everyone!

Now that the holidays are over, it's back to accidentally writing the wrong year on everything for at least two weeks before everything starts to normalize and feel like routine again. Anyone have any major New Years resolutions?

This is a little delayed, since it came out about a week ago, but I just couldn't stand the thought of people missing out on some dancing robots to ring in 2021. Boston Dynamics, who have become known over the last several years for their robotic innovations and fairly fantastic videos, put together a fun little New Year's video with some of their robot models. And although the idea of AI and the potential rise of robot overlords sort of freaks me out, I can't stop smiling when I watch this video.

In the video, three of the company's models - Atlas, Spot, and Handle - boogie down to "Do You Love Me?" by The Contours. Frankly, every single one of those robots dance better than I do personally, and I'm particularly amused by Spot's "twinkle toes" moves. This stuff is the kind of wholesome content that I absolutely needed in order to start off my New Year right.

If you're not familiar with Boston Dynamics, their website describes them as a world leader in mobile robots, tackling some of the toughest robotics challenges. "We combine the principles of dynamic control and balance with sophisticated mechanical designs, cutting-edge electronics, and next-generation software for high-performance robots equipped with perception, navigation, and intelligence. Boston Dynamics has an extraordinary and fast-growing technical team of engineers and scientists who seamlessly combine advanced analytical thinking with bold engineering and boots-in-the-mud practicality."

And then they use those robots and make some pretty awesome YouTube videos like the one above.

In actuality, the robots are utilized commercially for a variety of functions. The Pick, for example, is designed to assist with removing boxes from incoming pallets in warehouses, while the Spot is designed to navigate various terrain while remaining stable. The Atlas, which is the more humanoid robot you see dancing in the video, isn't available for commercial purchase and is used as research and development at the company.

I'm not a technical person and I'm certainly not at all adept with the idea of building a robot (I have terrible stress flashbacks just thinking about building my first PC!), but I love robotics. I'm fascinated by it and have lots of friends who are deep in both the profession and the hobby of robotics. One of the highlights of my year is usually visiting one of the local FIRST Robotic competitions that take place throughout the winter and early spring. A friend of mine is a head ref here in Michigan and used to mentor a team. These kids do some incredible things, and the games are usually an absolute riot to watch! 

At any rate, enjoy the dancing robots. I hope your New Year is off to a strong start and that you find much health, happiness, and prosperity in 2021. Boogie down!